Jeremy Coleman, who has coordinated the white-nose syndrome (WNS) response for the past three years, has been selected for a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service position as wildlife disease coordinator, which encompasses his continuing work as national WNS coordinator. Coleman’s involvement with WNS has followed the spread of the disease from New York to 14 states. Coleman has a master’s degree and a doctorate in natural resources from Cornell University.
Ann Froschauer has been selected as the national white-nose syndrome communications leader. Froschauer worked at Great Smoky Mountains National Park for several years and was the park’s 75th anniversary coordinator. She has worked on procedures to prevent the spread of WNS and has done cave and bat hibernacula surveys. She is a member of the National Speleological Society and the Cave Research Foundation. Froschauer has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in natural resources from Ohio State University.
White-Nose Syndrome: I was reading about the types of food bats eat and saw they eat plant nectar. This made me wonder if their immune systems could be compromised like the honey bees immune systems have from the neonicotinoide pesticides. I am assuming this nectar they eat is the guttation drops from plants. Recent research with honey bees has shown that when honey bees eat the guttation drops from corn that has been grown from neonicotinoid coated corn seed the bees will drop dead within a few minutes. Recent research has also shown giving lower (very minute and even undetectable) concentrations of neonicotinoids to the bees will decrease the honey bees immune resistance allowing the fungus called nosema to grow more rapidly in them. You can find more details on this research at http://dreamingabeautifulworld.blogspot.com/
Perhaps this connection between bats and neonicotinoids in plant nectar, or in the insects they eat should also be examined for their effect on the bats immune system. (Perhaps it is even some other type of pesticide.) I definitely think looking at their food source and the possibility of some contamination that weakens their immune system’s resistance is an avenue to examine.
Hi Sharol,
Thanks for your comment.
The bats that are affected by WNS to date are all insectivorous- their diets are made up solely of insects.
Scientists studying this disease have looked for connections between a variety of chemicals (including pesticides), viruses and bacteria. To date, research indicates that the fungus associated with WNS (called Geomyces destructans) is the only cause of this disease.
You might be interested in reading this blog post:
http://whitenosebats.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/wns_ccd/
vr,
Ann